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Most of this account is God’s ordered sacrifice of Yitskhak (Isaac). This is a disturbing command until we see that the point was to show Abraham’s deep trust in God’s promises and power to resurrect as well as to show how heart-wrenching a future act against God’s “one and only son” would be.
In Gen. 22:1, we are told that “God tested Abraham….” We have read in previous chapters that God had already promised to bless the world through Abraham and his descendants. We also read in previous chapters how Abraham with a cohort of 318 men, was able to conquer five foreign kings. There are other stories like this in Abraham’s life that show God was already blessing him and using Abraham in a profound way.
Abraham has passed every test that God had given him up to this point. He had left his country, went to a new land and God promised Abraham that land. But Abraham understood that the primary promise was not a physical land, but a spiritual land.
At this point, Yitskhak, although he was young, he was old enough to be able to carry the firewood for the sacrifice himself.
Hebrews 11:8-10;17-19 tells us why Abraham and Yitskhak were tested and how well Abraham and Yitskhak passed this test. Abraham and Yitskhak were tested to proclaim faith in God’s power of resurrection. Abraham loved and feared God.
God told Abraham to take Yitskhak to a particular place to be sacrificed as a whole offering to Him on Mount מוֹרִיָּה Moriah (Strong’s lexicon No. H4179), which in Hebrew can mean seen/chosen by God. God sanctified that spot. Even when the plague came upon Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) in the days of King David after his wrongful census, (2nd Chronicles 3, 1st Chronicles 21) God refused to allow any human blood to be spilt there.
We are told Abraham was told to sacrifice Yitskhak on the first day, the second day, they traveled towards Moriah and on the third day, they arrived at Moriah and Yitskhak was to be sacrificed on that day.
The number three in the Bible is symbolic of life and death. On the third day of creation, when he separated the land from the sea, plant life developed on the land. Yeshua prayed three times that the cup of suffering be taken from Him. Yeshua was also resurrected on the third day.
Gen. 22:5 says that when they reached this place, Abraham told the entourage with them, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” Abraham knew that even if he killed and sacrificed Yitskhak that both Abraham and Yitskhak would come down from the mountain alive one way or another.
Yitskhak noticed the lack of a sacrificial animal and Abraham reassured Yitskhak that God would provide one. This answer satisfied Yitskhak.
In Gen. 22:9, when we read that Abraham bound Yitskhak, the word for bound is עָקַד ‘aqad (Strong’s H6123). This is the only time in the entire Bible that the word ‘aqad appears.
This test was not just for Abraham but for Yitskhak and for Abraham’s seed as well.
When Abraham and Yitskhak passed this test, Yitskhak was replaced by a wild ram caught in a thicket by the horns. A ram in the Bible is symbolic of a prophet. This ram is symbolic of Yeshua: His head was wrapped in thorns and He was taken to the slaughter of the cross.
One of the blessings that came to the descendants of Yitskhak, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Did the seed of Abraham ever die? Yes, Yeshua, the true Seed of Abraham, died. He had to die before He could have life. In one sense, Yitskhak died on that mountain, but the death of the ram kept Yitskhak alive. In a sense Yitskhak was resurrected.
Speaker: Richard Agee. Summary: Tammy.
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